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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30101124">Blood and Star Dust</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherrypie55/pseuds/Cherrypie55'>Cherrypie55</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vault Era one shots [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Blood and Injury, Drinking to Cope, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, The Vault (Doctor Who)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:01:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,932</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30101124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherrypie55/pseuds/Cherrypie55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor takes Missy out of the vault and aboard the tardis under the pretence of helping him with engine maintenance. But how does she cope when he has to leave her there alone? </p>
<p>Part of my vault era series.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Twelfth Doctor/Missy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vault Era one shots [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1702705</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Blood and Star Dust</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Missy was sat on the floor of engine room four drinking from the Doctor’s hidden  bottle of brandy. Her mind was spinning, mostly from the brandy, but also because the Doctor had left her here, inside his tardis while he was off doing ... whatever it was he did when he wasn’t with her. Tardis maintenance he’d called it when he’d ushered her out of the vault and into the tardis three days ago. It was easier to keep track of time away from the disorientating effects of the vault. He’d locked her out of the controls of course, he wasn’t stupid after all, she couldn’t even open the doors but he had shown her to a room that he’d called hers. Compared to the vast openness of the vault it was stiflingly small but she appreciated having a place to go where he wasn’t watching her every move. They weren’t to tell Nardole of course, or the other one, not she had been back for a visit. Missy quite liked having the Doctor so close by, not when he hovered over her like a grumpy old grandmother but in the tardis with her, she could feel that he was nearby and it calmed her. She wasn’t stupid she knew he was concerned about her, ever since he left her alone for all those months he’d been different, maybe he felt guilty, regardless of why he was acting differently the point was that he was. Making sure she was gaining weight, that she was showering, sleeping regularly, slyly checking on the wounds she had inflicted upon herself in his absence. Her arm was healed, six pink scars all that remained to remind her of those six terrible months and soon they too would fade away to nothing. It was better out here, with the Doctor, it was easier to ignore the memories of her past. But today he had left her. Classes. It must be Monday. She had wandered around a bit but the tardis didn’t seem to want to let her go anywhere fun, Missy didn’t know if that was the Doctor’s doing or the tardis herself. Eventually she found her way to one of the engine rooms and began stripping down some of the parts for a routine cleaning, not that it looked like any cleaning had been done in a century or two. Ten rotation gears in and Missy’s mind had begun to wander, wondering what was taking the Doctor so long? When would he be back? What if something had happened and she was trapped here? The vault was one thing, she could easily get out of there if she actually tried but a tardis, the Doctor’s tardis at that with its annoying tricks could keep her indefinitely. The impending panic had to be stopped, she tried to find her way to the medical bay but apparently that was out of bounds, pity as there was sure to be plenty of calming solutions in there. Next she had attempted to find the bathroom with all the nice bath oils, that would surely help her relax but once again, no where to be found. She ground her teeth and glared around at the tardis. Then an idea had struck, her hearts were pounding rapidly at this point and she was having a hard time preventing herself from hyperventilating, her respiratory bypass system threatening to kick in. She made her way to the console room, thankfully with no interference this time, and opened a panel on the wall. Behind it was the Doctor’s hidden bottle of brandy, very well aged by now as she had known him to have this bottle stashed away as far back as his third regeneration and it wasn’t new then. Snatching the bottle Missy took a deep swig, the liquid burned going down but immediately after a sense of calm flooded through her, a warmth spreading out along her nerves. </p>
<p>She’d made her way back to the engine room to continue cleaning and reassembling the rotation gears, taking the brandy with her. It had been too long since she’d had a good drink, occasionally she convinced the Doctor to bring wine with him for their weekly meal together but it was always nasty Earth stuff, not like this Aldebaran brandy. The brandy really had livened up the boring task of engine maintenance until Missy had slipped and cut her hand on the teeth of the seventh gear, engine oil and blood mingling as they dripped onto the floor. She had taken one of the less oil covered cloths she had been using to clean the parts and wrapped it around her hand as a makeshift bandage, there was no point trying to find the medical bay again she would just have to wait until the Doctor was back. So there she sat, on the floor of engine room four, drinking stolen brandy from the bottle and watching as blood slowly soaked through her oil stained bandage. </p>
<p><br/>“Missy?” the Doctor’s voice rang out through the tardis. “Missy where are you?”</p>
<p>She didn’t bother to respond, the tardis would lead him here quick enough, or maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she would lock Missy away down here to see how long it would take for her to bleed out. Missy pressed her fingers into the wrapped cut on her palm causing the steady dripping to accelerate into a trickle. The air was thick with the smell of blood and oil and alcohol, her head dropped back momentarily as the heady mix hit her nostrils. For so long that smell was seductive, the copper twang bringing back welcome memories but now those memories were tainted. Missy took another drink, trying to warm the blood that had turned to ice in her veins, trying to push down the rolling of her stomach those memories caused. </p>
<p>“Missy?” the Doctor called again, closer now.</p>
<p>The door to the engine room opened and there he was. She was relieved and surprised and annoyed all at once. Annoyed that he’d left her for so long, relieved he was here now, surprised the tardis had led him to her. </p>
<p>“Yes dear?” she slurred.</p>
<p>It seemed her voice wanted to give away just how much of his brandy she’d drunk. </p>
<p>“What have you been doing? Is that brandy? Where did you get that from? What’s happened to your hand?” he rapidly fired questions as he walked towards her, crouching down and grabbing her hand as he finished.</p>
<p>“Engine maintenance. Yes. Console room,” she answered trying to pull her hand away as he unwound the cloth covering her sliced palm.</p>
<p>“Your hand Missy how did you hurt it?” he insisted, ignoring his other questions completely.</p>
<p>“Oh you know just cleaning <em>your</em> tardis. When <em>was</em> the last time you did engine maintenance by the way?” she raised a questioning eyebrow at him.</p>
<p>“And you thought shoving engine oil in an open wound was a good idea? Never heard of sepsis before?” he chastised.</p>
<p>Missy pouted and pulled her hand back “Well if you hadn’t locked me out of the medical bay I would have bandaged it properly.”</p>
<p>He sighed at that and stood up from his position crouched in front of her, turning away he rubbed his hands over his face as though to calm himself. Missy looked down at the open wound on her palm, without the sodden cloth her blood trickled freely onto the tardis floor leaving a dark sticky pool. Again she dug her fingertips into the cut, the blood collecting under her nails and rapidly growing the small puddle on the floor. It really was mesmerising. The sharp sting, the hot sticky liquid flowing over her hand.</p>
<p>“Missy!” the Doctor’s voice interrupted her thoughts.</p>
<p>“What?” she asked looking up at him with her head tilted. </p>
<p>“Stop hurting yourself!” he got to his knees beside her. The opposite side to her growing bloody puddle. “Was this really an accident?” he asked gently as he once again took her hand.</p>
<p>“Of course it was I only hurt other people for fun,” she shot back automatically.</p>
<p>Watching as he manually unfurled her fingers and placed a clean handkerchief, which seemed to have appeared from nowhere, against the wound. He had one hand cupping hers while the other pressed firmly against her palm to try and stem the flow of blood and he had that unbearable look in his eyes, the one that made her turn her head away eyes downcast. Concern. Compassion. Kindness. She hated it. </p>
<p>“Are we going then?” she asked harshly pulling her hand away and gathering her feet under herself ready to stand. </p>
<p>“Where?” he replied looking confused.</p>
<p>“Medical bay?” she responded waving her injured hand at him “I don’t think your hankie will quite do the job.” </p>
<p>“Right. Of course, medical bay,” he said standing up quickly “come on then.” </p>
<p>As she tried to stand the amount of brandy she had consumed came rushing back causing the Doctor to grab her elbow to stop her crashing back to the floor. Missy began to giggle, the whole situation was just absurd.</p>
<p>“Are you drunk?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed like two woolly caterpillars above his eyes. </p>
<p>Her attempts to keep a straight face lasted a few seconds before she snorted with laughter and stumbled a couple of steps to the side, the Doctor having to steady her again. </p>
<p>“Oh for the love of... Come on,” he said forcefully wrapping her arm around his neck and leading her out of the engine room and towards the medical bay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/>She wanted to pull away from him, prove that she could walk just fine by herself but the warmth of his body seeped into her side as he wrapped his arm around her waist. Subconsciously she turned her head towards him and inhaled a scent more alluring than any expensive perfume. <em>Curse that brandy</em> she thought as the Doctor’s unique scent caused a shiver to pass down her spine. The artron energy, the red grass and just a hint of star dust, no one else in the universe smelt like this. In spite of herself Missy leant closer to him, letting him carry more of her weight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He let go of her once they reached the medical bay, she threw herself dramatically into a nearby chair in response. Her hearts were beating annoyingly fast. The Doctor busied himself collecting bandages and other medical supplies before sitting himself in one of those chairs on wheels and rolling over to her. Missy snorted with laughter again at the sight of him rolling around like a dalek, he frowned at her which only caused her to laugh more. </p>
<p>“Hand,” he requested holding out his own.</p>
<p>Missy held out her injured hand as he rolled himself closer still, his legs parted one either side of her knees. He gently cupped her hand as he dripped an irrigation solution into the open wound. She gasped slightly in surprise at the sting.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” he apologised looking up from her hand briefly.</p>
<p>Why was he so close? Missy leant forwards, their heads almost bumping. He placed a sterile cloth over her palm and pressed down firmly, blood bloomed brightly on the white fabric, he glanced up at her again as he removed the cloth and reached for the irrigation solution a second time. Prepared for the sharp sting this time she just watched as he flushed her wound, dried it and applied gauze before beginning to wrap her hand in bandages. </p>
<p>“There,” he announced when he was finished.</p>
<p>Her eyes were transfixed on his as he raised his head. His hand still cupped hers. She leant forward a fraction and rubbed her nose against his, shock flashed across his face. She wondered what he would do if she kissed him. He wasn’t exactly a willing participant when she had given him the Missy ‘Welcome Package’ but he hadn’t known it was her, and he <em>had</em> kissed her in the graveyard but that was so chaste it barely counted. Then there was the moment in the bathroom of the vault, when he told her she was good, although that memory was fuzzy she’d not been in the best of states at the time. If she closed the inches between them right now would he run? Would he pull her closer? Would he let her bury her fingers in his curls as her tongue mapped the contours of his mouth? He’d been hesitant when she’d pushed him up against the wall inside her 3W Institute, his body outwardly appearing like a dear caught in headlights but his tongue had met hers with equal ferocity, of course that kiss had all been a part of her plan she did love a bit of dramatic flair after all but as his tongue duelled with hers it had sent shivers down her spine that felt like electricity flowing through her. If she kissed him again would it still feel electric? She subconsciously licked her lips as they continued to stare at one another as though they were playing a game of chicken. Who would move first?</p>
<p>“Missy?” he whispered breaking the silence.</p>
<p>“Doctor,” she whispered back. </p>
<p>His eyes closed tightly and he pushed himself back, rolling away. She had won their game of chicken, or had she lost? Missy squeezed her own eyes shut for a moment before letting out a sigh she hadn’t realised she was holding.</p>
<p>“I’m going to bed,” she announced as she dragged herself to her feet. </p>
<p>“Do you need any help?” he asked.</p>
<p>“I’ll be fine,” she snorted as she walked out of the medical bay. </p>
<p>He didn’t try to follow her which was good as she had to keep one hand on the tardis wall to keep herself from stumbling. It was odd though, that he didn’t follow her, he had been hovering around for the past three days checking on her yet now that she debatably needed his help he was deliberately not around. Eventually she made it to her room, she was sure the tardis took her the longest route possible, and collapsed onto the plain single bed. She never thought she’d miss anything about the vault but her bed might just be that one thing, with its plush pillows and purple silk sheets. Sleep claimed her quickly after that,  the brandy and blood loss had left her dizzy and exhausted. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Missy awoke her head was pounding, her mouth was fuzzy and her hand was itching. It took a moment of staring at her bandaged hand for the memories of the previous day to come back to her. She groaned as she rolled onto her back and rubbed at her temples. It took longer than she would care to admit before she was able to drag herself into a seated position, it was then that she noticed the mug that had been placed on the bedside table. Tea. Not in a teacup and miles too sweet by the smell of it but she was grateful nonetheless. She gulped the lukewarm liquid down before stripping out of the clothes she had fallen asleep in and pulling on her nightgown and climbing back into bed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next time she was awoken it was by the noise of the Doctor’s electric guitar blasting though the tardis halls. Missy scowled and placed her pillow over her head to try and drown it out but to no avail. She stomped out of bed and towards the source of the noise all ready to shout at him, he beat her to it however as she emerged in the console room. </p>
<p>“Good morning sleeping beauty,” he smirked as he stopped playing, the strings still quietly vibrating. </p>
<p>“It’s not morning,” she huffed.</p>
<p>“No I suppose it’s not, that’s what happens when you get blind drunk, you lose an entire day,” he replied smugly.</p>
<p>“A whole day of what? Waiting for you to finish work? Spare me,” she spat venomously.</p>
<p>The smirk left his face. Usually Missy enjoyed when he was in one of these moods, willing to tease and banter with her but right now her head hurt and her hand  was still itching. She began pulling at the bandages.</p>
<p>“We should clean that again,” he said nodding at her hand. </p>
<p>“I can do it myself if you see fit to let me in the med bay,” she was feeling particularly snarky.</p>
<p>“It’s open. I don’t mind helping you though,” he told her. </p>
<p>She considered his offer briefly. Would he sit as close as he had the first time? Or would he keep his distance now that she was sober? Would he cup her hand as softly? Her reply caught in her throat as she recalled the way he had looked at her, how her hearts had sped up as their noses brushed, how she had wanted to feel his lips on hers. </p>
<p>“I don’t need you,” she managed to get out but it lacked conviction, she wondered if he could tell. </p>
<p>“No. No I suppose you don’t,” he spoke quietly, turning away from her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Missy didn’t bother going to the medical bay, she turned and went back to her small room instead. Had she hurt his feelings? Why did she care? Her chest ached, her head pounded, everything was confusing. Blood had begun to soak through her bandage but right now she didn’t care, climbing completely under the plain duvet she curled up on her side and willed herself to go back to sleep. At least there the only thing she had to deal with were the nightmares.</p>
<p> </p>
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